News Perspectives

Quarantine Ends for Ebola Patient's Family

By Howard LeWine, M.D.

Though they shared an apartment with the first Ebola patient who got sick in the United States, relatives of Thomas Eric Duncan remained well. Health officials say they are now out of danger. Two of his nurses at a Dallas hospital did get sick. But they are improving with treatment. The end of quarantine for Duncan's family shows that it's not easy to become infected with Ebola, an expert told the Associated Press (AP) October 21. The virus is spread only through contact with body fluids of someone with Ebola symptoms. Early symptoms include fever, muscle aches, headache and sore throat. How rapidly symptoms appear depends partly on how much virus entered the body, an expert told AP. Joseph McCormick, M.D., worked on several outbreaks of Ebola in Africa. He is now at the University of Texas School of Public Health.

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